Demba Ba says he is happy at Newcastle United and had no desire to depart during the January transfer window. The Senegal striker's contract contains a release clause enabling him to leave Tyneside for £7m but Ba has not angled for its activation.

"I never talked to anyone to say I wanted to leave," said Alan Pardew's No19 who returned from the Africa Cup of Nations to score his 16th goal in as many Premier League games during the 2-1 home win against Aston Villa on Sunday. "I was just listening to people saying 'He's going there, he's going there, he's going there' and I had a big smile on my face. It was funny to me. The most important thing is being happy with your football and I am happy here."

Ba's bright smile seems a little more radiant now that he has been joined by his compatriot, Papiss Demba Cissé, the new owner of Newcastle's No9 shirt, worn by Alan Shearer, Malcolm Macdonald and Jackie Milburn.

Cissé, a £9m purchase from Freiburg, scored the winner against Villa and Ba could not have been more delighted. "I am really, really happy for Papiss," he said. "It's really important to score for a new club early on; when you come in and score right away you feel much better. It helps a lot and his was a goal of real class on the perfect return to Newcastle for me. It was such a good day; there wasn't even too much snow."

It is safe to assume the north-east weather did not loom overly large during Ba's attempts to sell the idea of joining Alan Pardew's side, now placed fifth, to his friend. "Papiss was a great signing for us," he said. "I was really happy when he signed because I talked to him a little bit beforehand. I just said, 'Go on. Sign.' He asked everything about Newcastle, about the supporters and the club but I've not told him everything because I wanted him to see for himself what it's like here. I think he loved the reception he got but he hasn't seen anything yet."

Ba, despite his prolific form in front of goal, never craved the No9 shirt. "I always said that I wanted to keep my number [19]," he said. "I always said that, if someone comes in and you want to give him No9, don't even ask me – just give it to him if he wants it. The manager asked me if I didn't mind it going to Papiss. I said just give it to him if it helps to sign him."

Ba's presence possibly clinched the deal. "We're from the same country, we live the same way as well," said Pardew's leading scorer. "Both of our parents are from Senegal and, even though I grew up in France, I always lived like I was in Senegal."

He seems amused at the idea of being one of two devout Muslims from West Africa who find themselves on Tyneside. "I think the Senegalese are happy about it," he said. "I guess there are a lot of Senegalese Newcastle fans now. But Papiss is a very quiet guy, all the fuss and hype will not affect him. I've told him everything about the No9 shirt here but I've always said it is just a number."

On Saturday Pardew's new strike force travels to Tottenham Hotspur – coincidentally a club reputed to be extremely keen on acquiring Ba this summer. "We go there and believe we can win," said the former West Ham United forward. "I look at the table and think 'Fifth, woah.' Now we just need to continue our road, continue what we are doing. We need to keep our focus but, as long as we do that, we'll be dangerous."

Newcastle travel to Spurs without the injured Leon Best and Ryan Taylor. Best will be sidelined for several weeks with knee ligament damage while Taylor is expected to make a swifter recovery from soft tissue damage to his right shin sustained when he was caught by Stephen Warnock's studs. Although eyebrows were raised that what seemed a wild lunge as the Villa left-back endeavoured to block Taylor's shot went unpunished, the FA will not review the incident retrospectively as it it says it was an "on the ball" challenge.